Israeli Ad Firm Used Online Ads to Deliver Spyware to Al Jazeera Devices, Researchers Say

Researchers at the University of Toronto have linked an Israeli advertising technology company to the infection of dozens of devices used by Al Jazeera journalists and employees of other companies with spyware delivered through online ads.

The finding comes from the Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary research unit at the university, after Al Jazeera asked it to investigate suspicious activity. Al Jazeera's internal technology team first noticed unusual patterns on devices used by some journalists in 2024, with the pattern continuing into 2025, and then contacted Citizen Lab for a more detailed examination. Al Jazeera

According to the researchers, the firm, Discover-Tech, purchased advertisements with malicious code built in and used those ads to direct targeted devices to malware made by Candiru, another Israeli company that sells spyware. Citizen Lab described the attack as the first-known instance of "zero-click" targeted advertising, in which a target does not have to click on anything for a device to be compromised.

Citizen Lab calls the method "AdFection" and laid out its findings in a report titled "How Discover-Tech Turned Targeted Ads Into a Pipeline for Zero-Click Mercenary Spyware". Citizen Lab

The researchers said Discover-Tech helps surveillance vendors track and hack devices around the world. They said its software, called Controlium, lets clients build broad profiles of internet users and then covertly hack selected targets, and that malicious Discover-Tech ads reached more than 120,000 websites and more than 75,000 apps. Reuters

In a separate report, security firm Confiant said some Discover-Tech advertisements also appeared in networks used by the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Criminal Court.

Candiru was placed on a United States blacklist in 2021 for malicious cyber activities.

Al Jazeera Media Network said it condemns the targeting of devices belonging to several of its employees with spyware.